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“Hey, are you here? The door is unlocked.”
I cleared my throat. “Uh, I want to show you something first. Can you come for a ride with me?”
“Right now? What is it?”
“I need you to come with me so I can show you.”
“Okay. I’ll be right down.”
I got out of the car when Charlotte walked outside. I wrapped my arms around her, lifting her off the ground in a bear hug. I inhaled her familiar scent, and the knot in my stomach loosened.
“God, I missed you.”
“I missed you, too,” she croaked. “I can’t breathe.”
“Sorry.” I set her down. “I didn’t think I’d get to do that again.”
Her nose scrunched. “What are you talking about?”
I shook my head. “Nothing. Come on.”
I watched Charlotte out of the corner of my eye as I made my way to our destination. Once we arrived, I parked in front of the brick colonial house.
“Whose house is this?” she asked.
“A very nice couple owns it. Tom and Joan.”
“And you’re taking me to Tom and Joan’s house because …”
“I’m not taking you to their house. I’m taking you up those stairs to the apartment on the side of their house.”
Charlotte’s eyes darted around while her brows pressed together. She followed me up the concrete stairs and watched silently as I turned the key to unlock the door. I switched on the lights and stepped back to watch Charlotte’s expression as she looked around.
“Tanner, what’s going on?”
I closed the door behind her and took her hands in mine. “This is our apartment.”
“Our?”
“I’d been saving to get my own place. I wanted an apartment so we could have somewhere to go without our family members being around. I planned on bringing you here the night we got taken by John and Tommy. We were out of commission for a few days after that. Then, you said you were going to Florida. I wanted to tell you sooner.”
Charlotte’s hands slipped out of mine. I waited for her response as she walked around the living room and into the kitchen.
“I know it’s small, but it’d be just us here. We don’t need anything big just yet.”
“Who bought all this furniture?”
“Tom and Joan’s son recently got married. He left everything here.”
“Wow. Fully furnished.”
I nodded. “What do you think?”
Charlotte turned her blue eyes to me. “I think it’s a little soon for us to be moving in together. Now, with the bakery out of commission, I don’t have an income anymore.”
“The bakery won’t be out of commission much longer. TJ, Derek, and I ripped up the floor in the kitchen and put new tile down while you were gone. Your dad was going to pay someone to do it, but they were going to charge him some astronomical amount.”
Her eyes widened. “You’ve been fixing it?”
